Century Park Blog

As we approach Thanksgiving, a spirit of gratitude and counting my blessings has pervaded the atmosphere. My papa always used to say, "Your attitude of gratitude will determine your altitude."

His words continue to carry me through difficult days, and rather than look at all I have lost in life, I choose daily to look at all I have gained.

Dr. Martin Seligman performed a long-term research study with 1,500 people. Group A (83% of the group) took their particular jobs because they believed they could make lots of money. The other 17% (Group B) took their jobs because they happened to love their jobs.

Twenty years later, the two groups had produced 101 millionaires. Amazingly, only one of those millionaires came from group A. The other 100 came from group B. Seligman concluded what my papa always knew: it was their attitude, more than their aptitude, that determined their altitude.

There have been many times in my life where money was a critical decision maker in my future. And even though I learned vital lessons from those decisions, what I value always emerged the winner. What we value shows up in how we spend our time and our money. For me, the things I value most are simple: my faith and people.

Throughout this very difficult year, my faith and people are what sustained me. I remember one particular day when my phone rang: it was a sales director in another state, just checking on me. On another occasion, food magically appeared in our refrigerator when my family and I returned from South Africa after burying my parents. We received countless meals and beautiful sentiments and thoughtful gifts celebrating my parents and my brother, even though our friends had never met my family. Then, there was the caregiver on the floor in Las Vegas, who texted me to tell me that she and her family were praying. The list of meaningful moments is endless.

In each of our communities, this sense of caring and family is woven through the very DNA of Century Park Associates, from the Executive Director who takes the time to speak at a loved one's funeral to the resident assistant who secretly pays for a resident's personal products and leaves them at her door, so she will never know the giver's identity.

Century Park Associates all over the country could choose to work in other sectors for more money, but they choose to live their values by serving family. I am grateful for our Century Park associates who always look for the solution — the associate who says, "Let me help you"; the associate who says, "It may be difficult, but it's not impossible"; and the associate who chooses, even on the most difficult days, to serve others with authenticity and compassion.

>Keep soaring and looking at all the possibilities of what we can ALL accomplish together. Keep your mind set on what you value, because therein lies your priceless legacy.